Irvine Valley's men's basketball team gave 13th ranked in the state Santiago Canyon everything it had in an Orange Empire Conference game on Wednesday night at home.
But it wasn't quite enough.
IVC led for a good portion of Wednesday's contest, but the Hawks finished strong, out-scoring IVC, 7-3, over the final 2:44 to earn a 73-69 conference victory.
The win lifted Santiago Canyon's record to 14-3 overall and 3-0 in conference, while IVC fell to 12-5 overall and 2-1 in the OEC.
Irvine Valley led by as many as seven points in the first half and were ahead, 36-34, at the half after shooting 59.3 percent (16 of 27) from the field as a team.
And IVC battled back from a small deficit to go up, 65-64, on a layup by freshman center Zeno Calastas with 3:40 left in the contest.
The Hawks regained the lead on their next possession at 66-65 on a layup by Salim Semaan with 3:05 left.
A free throw by IVC freshman guard Ahmad Alhammouri tied things up at 66-66 with 2:44 left.
But it was all Santiago Canyon the rest of the way.
The Hawks took the lead for good on a three-pointer by Ryan Weber with 1:17 to go.
And two free throws by Jacob De Armas put Santiago Canyon in front, 71-67, with 33 seconds left.
Santiago Canyon ended up shooting 54.5 percent (12 of 22) as a team in the second half.
After scorching the nets in the first half, Irvine Valley shot just 36.67 percent in the second half.
Weber led the Hawks with 18 points, six rebounds and two steals, Semaan had 15 points and four rebounds and De Armas added 13 points, four rebounds, five assists and two steals.
For Irvine Valley, Alhammouri finished with 12 points and four rebounds and freshman point guard Santos Cordero contributed 11 points, three assists and two steals.
The Lasers will try and get back on track Friday when they travel to Riverside for a 5 p.m. conference game.
